Summertime
by appa-appa-away
Summary: A peek into Ty Lee's past: She saw face paint. Some big red noses. Too much lipstick. Crazy hair. Strange costumes. Wide eyes. Concerned faces. And the room she was in was lit by candles. Set during "The Beach" with an original twist to it. R&R. Enjoy


**An alternative way "The Beach" episode could have gone, starting with the familiar fight scene around the bonfire on the beach. Ty Lee centric. Read, review, enjoy.****

* * *

Summertime**

"Uh, I know you," she looked at him.

Zuko rounded on her, "No you don't! You're stuck in your little Ty Lee world where everything's perfect!"

"Zuko, leave her alone," Mai cut in. But the Prince ignored her.

"Ooh! Look at me! I'm so pretty! I can walk on my hands! Woo!" Zuko did a handstand and glared at the girls from his upside-down position before he fell backwards in the sand. "Circus Freak!"

Azula laughed; a cruel, cold sound.

Ty Lee could feel tears in her eyes, "Yes, I'm a Circus Freak! Go ahead and laugh all you want! Do you wanna know _why_ I joined the circus?!"

"Here we go…" Azula sighed.

Ty Lee glared at her, "Do you have any idea what my home life was like, growing up with six sisters, who looked _exactly_ like me?!" She stood up furiously as she told them. "It was like I didn't even have my own name!" She fell back to her knees and bowed her head and lowered her voice as tears silently dripped down her face. "I joined the circus because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matched set. At least I'm different now! Circus Freak is a compliment!"

There was a moment of silence while they all looked at each other. Mai was the first one to speak again.

"I guess that explains why you need ten boyfriends."

Ty Lee glared at her, _She pisses me off…_

With that, she stood up and walked away, shoulders hunched and a dark expression over her usually cheery face. She walked for hours, far from the bonfire and her friends. Far from the beach house. When she was sure she was alone, Ty Lee sat down in the sand.

With a sigh, she lay back, hands behind her head. She looked up at the clear, starry sky. It was always like this for her in the summertime, on the days and nights when everyone was hot and bothered and it felt like they were taking their anger out on her. Ty Lee took one deep, calming breath as she looked up. It was strange how, one moment, everything was perfect. Everyone was happy. Things were fun. And then, suddenly, summer time decided that it didn't want everyone to be happy. Then everything fell apart in a wave of hurtful words and actions.

She hated it! It just wasn't fair. But it was life and the girl lying in the sand had found out the hard way a long time ago, that life wasn't fair.

The sound of crashing waves was like a sweet lullaby to her. The twinkling stars up above her head were her bedtime story.

Ty Lee shut her eyes.

* * *

"Hey Mum! Watch this! Watch this!" Ty Lee begged, with a huge smile on her face.

"Hold on a minute, Sweetie, I just need to do this quickly."

Ty Lee stood on her hands; the new trick she wanted to show her mother, "Mum! Check this out!"

"Not now, Darling," she sighed, putting away the dishes she had been washing.

Ty Lee's smile faded as her mother walked away.

"Mum?" she followed the woman on her hands.

Ty Lee's mother sat down on a chair and started reading a book.

"Hey Mum! Watch me! Watch me! Look at me!" Ty Lee called.

"Not now! Can't you see I'm busy?!"

Ty Lee frowned and stood back on her feet. She stood there for a while, watching her mother read. But the woman paid no attention to her.

With a sigh, Ty Lee walked outside, the usual spring in her step missing. She had been trying all week now to show her mother the new trick she could do. She wanted to shine. She wanted her mother to be proud of her. But every time, her mother just turned her away. She never paid attention to her!

She lay down under a tree, her only nearby shade from the hot summer sun. The saccades and rustling of leaves sent her to sleep…

* * *

Ty Lee saw her mother skipping under a tree. Around and around until she fell over with dizziness.

"Mummy?" she whispered.

"Ty Lee! Go back inside!" she yelled. There was a terrible expression on her face and a haunting look in her eyes.

Ty Lee ran back inside. But as soon as she shut the door, she could hear crying. She looked around. The noise was coming from all around her, growing more and more terrifying. She blocked her ears, but it only seemed louder.

"Stop! I don't like it! You're scaring me!" she sobbed.

But the cries got more and more desperate.

Ty Lee ran. She ran right through the house, trying to find out who was crying. She ran into each of her sisters' rooms, calling their names. But none of them could hear her and none of them could hear the crying. They all seemed happy and they didn't pay any attention to her either.

She slammed their doors shut behind her and kept running, until she came to her own room. But she was already in her room.

Ty Lee watched herself crying on her bed. It was a desperate and hysterical cry.

She couldn't take this; it was completely insane!

She ran back out of the house. She passed her mother, but she didn't pay any attention. She raced down the road. She passed people, but they didn't see her. She ran as fast as she could and she didn't stop running until she fell over, unconscious with exhaustion.

* * *

Ty Lee gasped as she sat up, under her tree. She hated it when she had a bad dream like that!

It was evening now and it was getting dark. She should have been inside ages ago, _Mum's gonna me angry at me…_

She got up and slipped inside. Quietly, she tried to sneak to her bedroom.

"Ty Lee! What do you think you are doing, running around outside after dark?! You had me worried sick!" her mother shouted.

"It's not my fault!" she cried. "I fell asleep under the tree and –"

"Fell asleep my backside! If you're so tired, then you can go to bed without dinner!"

"But Mum!"

"Go!" Ty Lee was pointed harshly up the stairs.

She began to cry, but her mother walked off. She ran up the stairs and shut herself in her room to cry on her pillow.

It seemed like a lifetime before she heard her father come home.

"Hello, Honey."

"Don't 'Honey' me! Not when you leave me alone with seven little brats every God damned day of my life!"

"Hey, you know I don't mean for you to –"

"Shut up! You mean everything under the sun! I've been home all day, per usual, unable to do anything but cook and clean and keep an eye on those spoilt little –"

"Now, come on. They can't be that –"

"They are the worst! Don't give me 'they're can't be that bad' when the only time you see them is at nighttime when they're in bed! You don't even know them"

"Now, you're making it sound like –"

"I'm making it sound the way it is! Life would be so much easier and so much better without them!"

Things were quiet as Ty Lee sobbed into her pillow. She hated the way her parents fought. She hated the way her mother yelled. She hated it all!

As quickly as she could, she packed a bag. Before her parents went to bed, she was gone. She ran off into the night, never to return again.

By daybreak, she had fallen asleep again, tired from all the running. The summer night air was soothing to her broken heart.

* * *

"Little girl? Hello? Are you ok?"

As young Ty Lee opened her eyes again, she looked up.

She saw face paint. Some big red noses. Too much lipstick. Crazy hair. Strange costumes. Wide eyes. Concerned faces. And the room she was in was lit by candles.

Ty Lee sat up. She was surrounded by circus actors.

"Who are you, little one?" a man asked. He looked like the ringleader of the group.

"Ty Lee," she answered, half afraid; _please, please don't let them take me back home._

"Where are you from? The city?" a woman asked.

Ty Lee nodded.

"Are you running away?" a young boy whispered.

Ty Lee nodded again, slowly. Looking around, she guessed that this boy was a runaway as well. Although the majority of the others were wearing makeup, she could tell none of them were related to him.

"Ah, some trouble back home. Not fitting in. Looking for a new beginning."

"Child, you are lucky we found you," a clown smiled gently.

"Why don't you stay with us? We could always use another family member! You could help us out heaps and we'd look after you!" a woman chimed.

"How would you like to join our circus?"

Ty Lee thought for a moment, _What nice people. I really could make a good new start here!_

"Yes, I would love to join!" she smiled.

"Wonderful!"

"Welcome!"

"I'm Chango, the ringleader!"

"Would you like a drink?'"

"_Ty Lee?"_

"Do you like clowns?"

"_Ty Lee?"_

"OH, you can share a room with me!"

"_Ty Lee?"_

"Hey, I'm a runaway from the city too!"

* * *

"Ty Lee!"

Ty Lee opened her eyes.

"Hey, c'mon. Don't do that to us! We thought you were dead for a minute there," Zuko sighed, leaning over her.

Ty Lee sat up.

"Yea, you were starting to freak us out. You started sleep-talking." Mai _almost_ laughed.

Azula helped her up and brushed the sand off her back.

"C'mon. We should get back to the beach house. Lo and Li might be getting worried."

Ty Lee nodded, "Sorry about that, guys."

"Hey, don't worry."

"I'm sorry too."

"We'll get over it."

"Ok, so… let's head back then!" she smiled at the happier mood.

"Wait, we've got to do one more thing before we go back to the beach house. One more thing, just to make this trip really memorable," Azula smirked as she looked back at the more active part of the island where all of the tourists stayed.

The others smiled, catching her drift.

* * *

Ty Lee had the honor of knocking on the door.

The girls had to suppress their giggling as Chang opened the door and looked at them in a mixture of shock, confusion and suspicion.

"I'm afraid we've got some bad news, Chang!" Azula chimed innocently.

Zuko narrowed his eyes at him, "The party's over!"

Before he could do anything to protect himself or his home and reputation, the four of them had pushed past and reentered the party.

The music stopped and everyone ran out of the house and Mai extracted her knives and Ty Lee jumped onto the supports running across the roof. They each had their share in trashing the boy's house and as they left, he cried like a child, hysterically and with the knowing that he'd brought it upon himself.

Zuko, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee left the house laughing.

As they snuck back inside the beach house to find Lo and Li already fast asleep, they sighed and climbed into bed.

Ty Lee looked up at the ceiling before she fell asleep.

Summertime sometimes didn't want people being happy. But after a while, it just couldn't stand them being sad.

Ty Lee loved summertime, and right now, it was letting her be happy.

* * *

**Well, that's that, I hope you liked it. Please remember to drop a review :) Tell me what you thought.**


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